


More Bang for Your Buck

by agrajag



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Menstruation, Trans Richie Tozier
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:21:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28803480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agrajag/pseuds/agrajag
Summary: Richie woke up, and even though he didn't have cramps, he just knew that his period had came during the night. He rolled out of bed, landing on the carpet with a groan, and then slowly pushed himself up to his feet. A quick trip to the bathroom confirmed what he had feared, and he quickly cleaned up and grabbed one of the last pads that he had underneath the sink."Well, this sucks," he mumbled to himself as he poured some cereal into a bowl. "Guess we gotta go to the store."
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 6
Kudos: 109





	More Bang for Your Buck

**Author's Note:**

> i had a morning that sadly just made me go "ok but richie" and then spent my day writing this
> 
> only differences is that a. the movie i picked up was the house with the lock in it's walls (but i prefer writing my "modern" version of them in the mid-2000s) and b. i didn't hit on my cute cashier with the cool ring

Richie woke up, and even though he didn't have cramps, he just knew that his period had came during the night. He rolled out of bed, landing on the carpet with a groan, and then slowly pushed himself up to his feet. A quick trip to the bathroom confirmed what he had feared, and he quickly cleaned up and grabbed one of the last pads that he had underneath the sink. 

"Well, this sucks," he mumbled to himself as he poured some cereal into a bowl. "Guess we gotta go to the store."

The last thing he wanted to do was go out into public and Be Perceived, but one more pad wasn't going to last him very long. He would have asked Bill to run out for him, because his roommate and best friend was awesome like that and would have, but he was fast asleep. Richie could hear him snoring from his room, where a ball of yarn trailed from the ajar door to the couch where Bill had been working on his current project. He had been up late knitting the sweater for his long distance boyfriend, Mike, so it was likely that he'd be sleeping well into the afternoon.

Slurping down the leftover milk, Richie started pulling out clothes with his other hand. He ended up with a decently mismatched outfit, but that wasn't exactly surprising. That really was just how he dressed, but today he felt a little more self conscious as he pulled on a graphic tee with an alien giving the middle finger, bright blue flannel button up, and grey sweatpants. Stupid hormones would do that to you. 

He tugged on the sleeve of his flannel, making sure it covered the little bead bracelet that Bev had made him that said HE HIM in block letters. Ever since she had gifted it to him, a cute little pride present for him before they attended Market Days, he hadn't taken it off except for showering. Obviously. But while he was out and proud, he definitely didn't want to deal with anyone making a fuss out of him buying pads, even if it meant getting misgendered.

Well, now that his mind had gone done that road, he definitely needed motivating to go out. He grabbed his wallet and keys but also his phone and headphones so he could queue up one of his favorite punchy songs. He started dancing as he headed toward the door, only to quite literally freeze when he was met with a blast of cold, wet air.

Great.

It had started snowing.

"Huh. I probably should bundle up," he said, stumbling back to his room and grabbing what he needed.

Of course, since he just grabbed the first things he saw, he ended up with a completely unsuitable suit coat and a Halloween beanie with a Jack-O-Lantern face print. He probably should have also put on snow boots once he returned to the door, but that wasn't going to happen. While he might not have had cramps, he was feeling pretty bloated, and he didn't feel like bending over to tie the laces. He slid his feet into his Crocs instead and cursed quietly as he hopped from foot to foot for a moment. They were cold from sitting next to the door while the temperature had dropped over night, which Richie probably should have realized.

He tried to ignore how increasingly uncomfortable he was becoming, humming along to Vengaboys as he started walking to the Family Dollar that was a couple of blocks away.

His comedy career was starting to take off, but he wasn't exactly rolling in the big bucks just yet, so he did most of his quick shopping at the Family Dollar. 

Not that there was anything wrong with that no matter your money situation. 

It actually was pretty awesome, because that meant after Richie had grabbed the pads and thrown them into the hand basket, he was able to mosey on over to the snack aisle and add a family sized bag of chips, sour cream dip, and a couple cans of whatever energy drink was on sale. He stopped himself there before he went over board and got into line.

Unfortunately, he wasn't the only one doing some early morning shopping, and so his eyes wandered over to the discount bin next to the registers as he waited for the customer in front of him to be rung up. There was the usual array of lip balms, bite sized candies, and DVDs. He knew he really shouldn't, but then something caught his eye.

"Oh fuck yeah," he said quietly to himself. "Jack Black."

And then he added the DVD to his hand basket.

"I can help who's next?" the cashier said loudly, and Richie realized that it most likely had not been the first time, considering how agitated he looked.

Richie quickly hit pause on his music and made his way to the register. He started unpacking his items onto the counter, not wanting to give the cashier any more reason to dislike him. He was so focused on the task that he didn't really look back up at him until he noticed the ring on his pinky finger.

It was a beautiful gold ring with a ruby in the middle of the band, and Richie tried to not get his hopes up, but he really doubted that a straight man would wear a fancy pinky ring to his job at Family Dollar. He leaned against the counter once he had put the last of his items down and directed a smile at the cashier.

"Boom, boom, boom, boom. I want _you_ in my room."

"I'm sorry. What?" the cashier asked with a scowl.

"The song," Richie lied, pointing to his headphones. "Singing along there... Uh, hi there... Eddie," he said, checking the cashier's name tag. "How're you doin'?"

"How are _you_ doing?" the cashier, _Eddie_ , fired back as he started ringing Richie's items up.

"Uh, actually not that great," Richie answered truthfully. "But much better now that I met you, cutie."

Eddie glared at him from underneath his bushy eyebrows. Honestly, it looked like two Muppet caterpillars died on his face. God, Richie loved it.

"Nice try, but I'm not going to call you when I get off and watch Nacho Libre with you."

Now, Richie may not have exactly been a casanova, but he did pretty good for himself. He knew how to play the game, but he couldn't stop himself from going on the defensive, despite knowing that would ruin any chances he had with the hot cashier.

"You got something against Jack Black, man? The dude is hilarious."

"Yeah, you seem like the kind of guy who finds Jack Black hilarious," Eddie said, eyes flitting up and down Richie's body, and Richie knew it was an insult, but his heart did somersaults at the fact that Eddie knew he was a guy. "You kind of dress like him, too."

"I am going to take that as a compliment," Richie said, smiling once more when Eddie groaned. "We don't have to watch a movie, though. I can take you out. If, uh, that would be something you'd be interested in."

"If you suggest we go out for nachos, I will literally scream," Eddie said as he handed Richie his bag. "So you better come up with a real suggestion and not crack a joke while you pay me $26.52, or that is going to be the end of this transaction."

Richie blinked his eyes a few times and then pinched his arm through the many layers to make sure that he wasn't dreaming. He fumbled to get his wallet out of his pocket, also fumbling over his word as he asked, "Do you, uh, do you like Thai? There's a really great Thai place in the neighborhood."

Eddie smiled, but didn't say anything as he held out his hand and waited for Richie to pay. Richie sighed as he pulled out some crumpled bills and a ridiculous amount of quarters and placed them in Eddie's hand. So, it wasn't the first time that he had been turned down, and at least Eddie was being a good sport about it. He knew that he should just admit defeat and leave with the little bit of dignity he had left, but then the change clanked against Eddie's ring.

"Oh, I like your ring, by the way."

"704-555-7652."

"Wow, it looks expensive, but that's _really_ expensive," Richie muttered, and Eddie laughed.

"That's my phone number. Give me a call sometime. When you're feeling better, of course, and you get the Jack Black out of your system."

"Oh my God, yes! Hold on." Shoving his wallet back into his pocket, Richie grabbed his phone. It being still connected to his headphones, however, sent him falling into the counter when he accidentally yanked himself forward. He managed to get it unlocked and immediately programmed Eddie's number in. "Okay. Got it. I will definitely give you a call. And maybe text you before that, too, if that's alright with you?"

"I suppose that's alright. I probably should start getting used to your bad pick up lines and jokes before our date."

"Our date," Richie said with a dreamy sigh. "I look forward to it. Until then, vengababe."

"I have no idea what that means," Eddie yelled after him as Richie walked out of the store.

Richie hit play once he was out on the street, We Like to Party blasting through his headphones. He started humming along and dancing as he walked, snow getting into his Crocs, but he found that he didn't care. He just kept on dancing, even as he got home and put away everything. Bill woke up and shuffled out of his room, foot getting caught on his yarn, to find Richie jumping around the kitchen as he was putting together a second breakfast.

"Good morning?" he said, making it sound like a question.

"Oh yeah, Billy Boy. The best morning. Hey, you wanna watch Nacho Libre with me today? I picked up the DVD from a discount bin."

"Hell yeah. That sounds perfect. I can get so much knitting done during that movie."


End file.
